Liegeoise Salad

I really enjoyed the Liegeoise salad. It was simple, but still flavorful, and fresh, but still filling. I cleaned my bowl the minute I put the camera down. It’s also a little nifty because you make the vinaigrette right in the pan in which you fry the bacon – no messy olive oil and vinegar jar shaking! That’s my kind of salad. As an aside, I loved that I could get almost everything I needed for this at the farmer’s market – tiny new potatoes, long skinny green beans, still crisp lettuce, even the eggs and the bacon could have been purchased at the market. Only the endives (and the onion, I suppose) were nowhere to be found, and those are really hard to grow anyway. But knowing that almost everything had just been picked made the meal feel truly seasonal.

Liegeoise Salad

Serves 4.

• 1 lb small new potatoes, halved (or quartered, if large)
• 1 lb. green beans
• 6 slices smoked bacon
• 1 onion, sliced
• 3 TBS vinegar
•  black pepper
• salt
• 2 heads of Belgian endive
• 2 c. mache (lamb’s lettuce) or butter lettuce pieces
• 4 hard-boiled eggs, peeled and chopped

1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the potatoes, and cook until just tender, about 10-15 minutes. Remove from the water with a slotted spoon, drain briefly, and transfer to a bowl. Add the green beans to the water and blanch for 2 minutes, then drain and add the green beans to the bowl with the potatoes.
2. Cook the bacon over medium-low heat, flipping once, until crispy on both sides. Remove the bacon and place on a paper-towel lined plate. Let cool, then roughly chop.
3. Turn down the heat on the bacon pan to low, and let the grease cool for 2 minutes. Then, carefully add the diced onion and return the heat to medium-low. Cook the onion, stirring frequently, until translucent and softened, about 3-5 minutes. Add the vinegar to the pan and deglaze, scraping the bottom of the pan. Add the potatoes and green beans to the pan and stir to coat the veggies with the vinegar mixture. Remove from heat and season with salt and pepper.
4. Trim the ends off the Belgian endive and discard the ends. Discard the outer leaves. Separate the inner leaves and place, cup-side up, on a platter. Spread lettuce pieces on top of the endive. Top with the potato and green bean mixture, then crumble the egg and the chopped bacon on top. Serve warm or at room temperature.